10-GigE a NAS-cent Technology

6:00 PM -- Although the iSCSI crowd has made a lot of noise about 10-Gbit/s Ethernet giving their SANs a boost, it looks las if well see 10-Gbit/s Ethernet in NAS systems long before we see them in IP SANs. (See 10-GigE SANs to Make SNW Debut.)

Ciprico today launched the DiMeda 10G NAS, a 10-gig version of its family of systems for digital media files. (See Ciprico Rolls Out NAS.) Although Ciprico hasn’t sold any of the new systems yet, its director of business development, Hamish McMillan, says the company has fielded requests from customers looking to upgrade from its current Ethernet system.

“The noise level for this is high,” McMillan says. “We wanted to hold off until 10-gig components became affordable.”

The Ciprico DiMeda 10G NAS has a list price of $48,000, only $3,000 more than the DeMeda 1724, which is the same system with four Gbit/s Ethernet ports instead of a single 10-Gbit/s Ethernet port. Although 10-Gbit/s Ethernet switches still go for about $500 a port, Ciprico is counting on customers spending that for running graphic-intensive applications such as non-linear video editing, multistream, and video on demand.

Isilon, which also plays in those verticals, could be close behind. Isilon execs say they’re watching closely for customer demand for 10-Gig connectivity to the host.Ciprico and Isilon are both keeping their options open for high-speed interconnects. Isilon has been shipping InfiniBand switches to connect its clusters since April, while McMillan says Ciprico will offer InfiniBand connectivity around next April. (See Isilon Embraces InfiniBand.)

iSCSI vendors are hoping to sell 10-gig systems by the second half of 2006. IP SAN customers are less likely to pay the premium for 10-gig because they usually don’t use their systems for video-intensive applications.

— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch

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